


Handsome Enough

by middlemarch



Category: Mercy Street (TV)
Genre: American Civil War, F/M, Female Gaze, Ficlet, Gen, Minor Character(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-30
Updated: 2017-01-30
Packaged: 2018-09-21 00:07:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 345
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9521963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/middlemarch/pseuds/middlemarch
Summary: This is what.





	

Dr. Hale was a boor and a dullard and Dr. Summers a drunkard. Dr. Foster was a gentleman, but he had such regard for his own wit, he could hardly pay attention to anyone else’s. Nurse Mary cold keep him in check and generally did, even though it tired her and it was only one time in five that he noticed; when he did, his tone was softer and affectionate and it didn’t occur to him that anyone would observe a difference. It occurred to Nurse Mary, that was evident from the way her dark eyes scanned the room, how carefully she chose her words but she always touched her hand to her throat and Sister Mary Isabella knew it meant the Yankee widow wished to be kissed there. They were invisible, the nuns, to the rest of the staff, unremarkable, like the drones of a hive. Only Matron bothered to tell them apart and even she was fooled by the twins. No one remembered that Sister Mary Isabella had once been a girl in sprigged calico instead of her habit, who’d answered to “Aggie,” who’d been sweet on Thomas Sinclair before she’d gotten her vocation and promised herself to Jesus but she had and she could still appreciate a noble profile, the spill of curls under a Hardee hat, the way sunlight caught in hazel eyes and turned them amber. She didn’t trouble herself to answer Dr. Foster when he asked, “Handsome enough for what?” and she knew he’d forget in the next minute, sooner if Nurse Mary shook her head at him or wrinkled her nose in correction. The new doctor, their chief, Captain McBurney, _was_ handsome enough—to tempt and to make a sacrifice of earthly delight meaningful, to make her confession worthwhile and to please the Aggie she still was when she dreamt. He was more than enough for all that—even if Dr. Hale would gape and Nurse Hastings smirk, Dr. Foster choke back a surprised laugh and Nurse Mary smile her little, secret, winsome smile if she told them.

**Author's Note:**

> Well, who can resist expanding this little scene, but giving Sister (Mary) Isabella the last word instead of Jed? He almost always gets the last word. Not on my watch :) Enjoy!


End file.
